Commercial ice dispensers, such as those used in fast-service restaurants, are built in a compact design to increase the ice storage area within a given space. Many customers of fast-service restaurants, as well as consumers generally, are accustomed to having ice in their beverage. Of course, this means that there must be an ice dispenser nearby, or the beverage dispenser may include an ice bin and an ice dispenser. In some applications, such as one depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,036, assigned to the assignee of this invention, the beverage dispenser may even include an ice maker so that users need not manually transport ice, such as cubed ice, into the ice bin for later dispensing by customers or by store personnel. In addition to standard cubed or shaped ice, consumers have come to appreciate shaved or crushed ice in their beverages. The smaller flakes or shavings, with much greater surface area, are able to cool a beverage much more quickly than a standard cube of ice. People also enjoy the feel of crushed ice in their mouths, and are better able to chew crushed ice.
One problem with dispensing ice is that ice makers, ice bins and ice dispensers require space in very crowded serving and dining areas. Space is sufficiently limited that ice dispensers have been integrated into beverage dispensers to save space, and ice makers, as mentioned above, have been integrated into beverage dispensers in order to avoid placement of an extra machine into dining or serving areas. Of course, if crushed or flaked ice is now desired, that may mean another machine is needed, such as an ice crusher, or adapting an existing ice maker or beverage dispenser to add an ice crusher. The same problem of lack of space acts as a barrier to the addition of an ice maker or an ice crusher. Dispensing previously-crushed ice is difficult, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,476, since the ice tends to form clumps in the ice bin and may not readily be conveyed from the bin.
In addition, the design of beverage dispensers typically does not allow room for a crusher to be easily placed into an existing dispenser. In particular, if an ice crusher is to be added to a beverage dispenser with an ice bin, especially if an ice maker is also included above the ice bin, there should be sufficient room (height) between the ice bin and the beverage dispenser to fit in the ice crusher. Low ceilings or other obstacles to height may make this additional height objectionable. What is needed is therefore an ice crusher that will dispense ice from an ice bin and will crush ice from the ice bin without adding to the height of an existing machine